8150 Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 36 / Friday, February 23, 2007 / Notices 

remain the same. The effective date of 

February 25, 2007 remains the same. 

Sheryl D. Kennerly, 

Director, Information Management. 

[FR Doc. E7–3130 Filed 2–22–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6353–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

[I.D. 021607F] 

Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management 

Council; Public Meetings 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice of public meeting. 

SUMMARY: The Gulf of Mexico Fishery 

Management Council (Council) will 

convene the Standing Scientific and 

Statistical Committee (SSC) to address 

four issues (see SUPPLEMENTARY

INFORMATION). 

DATES: The meeting will begin at 8:30 

a.m. on Thursday, March 15 &16, 2007 

and conclude by 3 p.m. 

ADDRESSES: Meeting address: The 

meeting will be held at the Four Points 

by Sheraton, 6401 Veterans Memorial 

Blvd., Metairie, LA 70003. 

Council address: Gulf of Mexico 

Fishery Management Council, 2203 N. 

Lois Avenue, Suite 1100, Tampa, FL 

33607. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Wayne Swingle, Executive Director, 

Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management 

Council; telephone: 813–348–1630. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The SSC 

will address these issues: 

Review and provide guidance on the 

draft provisions of Reef Fish 

Amendment 27 and Shrimp 

Amendment 14 which set manage 

measures to rebuild the red snapper 

resource in the Gulf of Mexico. 

Review the SEDAR 12 assessment of 

red grouper in the Gulf of Mexico. The 

SSC will determine if the SEDAR 12 

Review Panel reports are based on the 

best available information. The SSC may 

provide guidance to the Council about 

the results of the assessment and 

research recommendations made by the 

SEDAR panels. 

Examine the availability of new 

information on Gulf of Mexico red drum 

and provide guidance to the Council on 

whether a SEDAR benchmark 

assessment can be conducted and may 

comment on new research or data 

collections would be necessary to 

adequately conduct such an assessment. 

Review the provisions of the Scoping 

document for Reef Fish Amendment 30 

which includes gag and red grouper, 

greater amberjack and gray triggerfish 

management measures to determine if 

they are scientifically sound based on 

the recent SEDAR assessments of these 

species. 

A copy of the agenda and related 

materials can be obtained by calling the 

Council office at 813–348–1630. 

Although other non-emergency issues 

not on the agendas may come before the 

Standing Scientific and Statistical 

Committee (SSC), in accordance with 

the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

Conservation and Management Act (MSFCMA), those issues may not be the 

subject of formal action during this 

meeting. Actions of the Standing 

Statistical Committee (SSC) will be 

restricted to those issues specifically 

identified in the agendas and any issues 

arising after publication of this notice 

that require emergency action under 

Section 305(c) of the M-SFMCA, 

provided the public has been notified of 

the Council’s intent to take action to 

address the emergency. 

These meetings are physically 

accessible to people with disabilities. 

Requests for sign language 

interpretation or other auxiliary aids 

should be directed to Tina Trezza at the 

Council (see ADDRESSES) at least five 

working days prior to the meeting. 

Dated: February 16, 2007. 

Tracey L. Thompson, 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. E7–3057 Filed 2–22–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

[Docket No. 060824225–6225–01; I.D. 

021207A] 

Fisheries in the Western Pacific; 

Western Pacific Crustacean Fisheries; 

2007 Harvest Guideline 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notification of harvest guideline 

for crustaceans. 

SUMMARY: NMFS announces that the 

annual harvest guideline for the 

commercial lobster fishery in the 

Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (NWHI) 

for calendar year 2007 is established at 

zero lobsters. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Bob 

Harman, NMFS Pacific Islands Region, 

808–944–2271. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The NWHI 

commercial lobster fishery is managed 

under the Fishery Management Plan for 

the Crustacean Fisheries of the Western 

Pacific Region (Crustaceans FMP). The 

regulations at 50 CFR 665.50(b)(2) 

require NMFS to publish an annual 

harvest guideline for lobster Permit Area 

1, comprised of Federal waters around 

the NWHI. 

The NWHI commercial lobster 

fishery, which operates almost 

exclusively within 50 nm of the NWHI 

archipelago, has been closed since 2000, 

initially as a precautionary action to 

prevent overfishing of spiny and slipper 

lobster resources while NMFS 

conducted biological research and 

assessed the status of the lobster stocks. 

In 2001, the U.S. District Court for the 

District of Hawaii ordered the fishery to 

remain closed until an environmental 

impact statement and a biological 

opinion were prepared for the 

Crustaceans FMP. Also in December 

2000 and January 2001, the NWHI Coral 

Reef Ecosystem Reserve (Reserve) was 

established by Executive Order which, 

among other provisions, prohibited 

commercial lobster fishing in the 

Reserve. The boundary of the Reserve 

extended to a distance of 50 nm seaward 

from the islands of the NWHI. On June 

15, 2006, Presidential Proclamation No. 

8031 established the NWHI Marine 

National Monument. The Proclamation 

requires that any commercial lobster 

fishing permit shall be subject to a zero 

annual harvest limit. The Proclamation 

also prohibited unpermitted removal, 

moving, taking, harvesting, possessing, 

injuring, disturbing, or damaging; or 

attempting to remove, move, take, 

harvest, possess, injure, disturb, or 

damage any living or nonliving 

monument resource. Subsequently, 

NOAA and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife 

Service jointly promulgated regulations 

implementing the Proclamation, 

including these measures (71 FR 51134, 

August 29, 2006), to be codified at 50 

CFR part 404. 

Consistent with the regulatory 

provisions that establish the 

unpermitted removal of monument 

resources and zero annual harvest 

guideline (50 CFR 404.7 and 404.10(a), 

respectively), NMFS establishes the 

harvest guideline at zero lobsters for the 

NWHI commercial lobster fishery for 

calendar year 2007; thus, no harvest of 

NWHI lobster resources is allowed. 

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq. 


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